The Blunder of the Century

Qualifying:

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Report:

All the questions in the F1 fandom gathering in the Motor City were about the new McLaren MP4/4B. The British team had great hopes for the updated version of their 1988 chassis and everyone wanted to know whether it would live up to the promises and give Jérémy-Étienne Voeckler and Gerhard Berger the performance needed to humiliate the Ferrari stars.

The answer is: yes. Yes, it did. McLaren had complete control of qualifying, Gerhard Berger’s fastest lap was one second faster than Ayrton Senna’s. However, the Austrian saw himself get beaten just as badly, with Voeckler taking pole position by 1.4 seconds. Ten and a half seconds seperated 1st from 28th (Arsenio Matarazzo, having failed to qualify for all races this season) in qualifying.

Jérémy-Étienne Voeckler kept his lead through the first laps and then was able to control the race, not even losing the lead once, despite Berger running on one stop less than him. Voeckler had the entire field, bar Berger, lapped when it came to the 63rd and final lap. Without any influence by the car or the environment, JEV clipped the barriers and hit the wall on the outside of the track, ending his race immediately.

Gerhard Berger was left to inherit the win and Senna also managed to get his lap back and be classified in second. Whilst Voeckler got four points, his face during the podium ceremony will be one of F1’s prime examples of disappointment. Nigel Mansell and Brendon Cassidy scored again and were joined in the points by Jonathan Palmer after Chris Dagnall retired, being fifth at the time, with two laps to go.

Race:

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Fastest Lap:

Jérémy-Étienne Voeckler – 1:42.874

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

Jonathan Palmer – Finally gives Tyrrell’s turbo-powered car its first point.

Reject Of The Race:

Jérémy-Étienne Voeckler – After McLaren-Honda had established that there was no technical issue, he simply looks like a horrible driver.